All I Ever Wanted
All I Ever Wanted is Kelly Clarkson's fourth studio album. The album was first released on March 6, 2009 in Australia & Germany and in the United States on March 10, 2009. Album Background Kelly worked with producer, songwriter, and OneRepublic front man, Ryan Tedder. Tedder told Digital Spy that the album's songs feature "big choruses" and "heavy drum programming" and he mentioned that the songs are influenced by the band Garbage while one song "Save You" features an experimental bridge that was inspired by Mozart. Kelly has also stated in an interview with PopEater that one song co-written with Tedder, "If I Can't Have You" is "like Eurythmics meets The Killers" and described the track "Cry" as "a waltz" saying that it was heavily influenced by country music and calling it the most personal song on the album, adding that it's about betrayal. The songs "I Do Not Hook Up" and "Long Shot" were originally recorded by Katy Perry for her unreleased album "(A) Katy Perry." The songs "Whyyawannabringmedown" and "All I Ever Wanted" were written by Sam Watters (formerly of the band Color Me Badd), Louis Biancaniello and the band Aranda (in which they recorded the original demos for their debut album). Watters and Biancaniello also produced the song "I Want You" and the bonus track "The Day We Fell Apart." The song "Save You" is a demo from the now-disbanded Boston group Gone 'Til November, fronted by singer-songwriter Aimée Proal, who co-wrote the song with Ryan Tedder. The song "If No One Will Listen" is a cover from Keri Noble's 2004 album "Fearless." Tracklisting #My Life Would Suck Without You (3:32) (written by Max Martin, Lukasz Gottwald & Claude Kelly; produced by Max Martin & Dr. Luke) #I Do Not Hook Up (3:20) (written by Katy Perry, Kara DioGuardi & Greg Wells; produced by Howard Benson) #Cry (3:34) (written by Kelly Clarkson, Jason Halbert & Mark Lee Townsend; produced by Howard Benson) #Don't Let Me Stop You (3:20) (written by Claude Kelly, Andreas Romdhane & Josef Larossi; produced by Howard Benson) #All I Ever Wanted (3:59) (written by Sam Watters, Louis Biancaniello & Dameon Aranda; produced by Sam Watters & Louis Biancaniello) #Already Gone (4:41) (written by Kelly Clarkson & Ryan Tedder; produced by Ryan Tedder) #If I Can't Have You (3:39) (written by Kelly Clarkson & Ryan Tedder; produced by Ryan Tedder) #Save You (4:03) (written by Ryan Tedder & Aimee Proal; produced by Ryan Tedder) #Whyyawannabringmedown (2:42) (written by Louis Biancaniello, Sam Watters & Dameon Aranda; produced by Louis Biancaniello & Sam Watters) #Long Shot (3:36) (written by Katy Perry, Glen Ballard & Matt Thiessen; produced by Howard Benson) #Impossible (3:23) (written by Kelly Clarkson & Ryan Tedder) #Ready (3:05) (written by Kelly Clarkson, Jason Halbert & Aben Eubanks; produced by Howard Benson) #I Want You (3:31) (written by Kelly Clarkson & Joakim Ahlund; produced by Louis Biancaniello & Sam Watters) #If No One Will Listen (4:03) (written by Keri Noble; produced by Kelly Clarkson) Deluxe Album Edition Bonus Tracks #Tip of My Tongue (4:19) (written by Kelly Clarkson & Ryan Tedder; produced by Ryan Tedder) #The Day We Fell Apart (4:03) (written by Louis Biancaniello, Sam Watters, Andre Harris, Vidal Davis, Harry Zelnick & Alexander Chiger; produced by Louis Biancaniello, Sam Watters, Andre Harris & Vidal Davis) Japanese Album Edition Bonus Track #Can We Go Back (2:52) (written by Shanna Crooks, Andrew Creighton Dodd & Adam Watts) Critical Reception Initial critical response to "All I Ever Wanted" was generally positive. At Metacritic (which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics) the album has received a score of 70, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Los Angeles Times said that: "All I Ever Wanted is a masterful rapprochement with the mainstream, full of cheerfully ear-snagging tunes, inventive production, exhilarating vocals and enough inherent Kelly-ness to put aside fears that her label bosses implanted blond electrodes in her brain to make her behave." Entertainment Weekly said that: "She just tries it all, co-writing six of All I Ever Wanted 's 14 tracks-- and stumbles only rarely." The New York Times said that "The most immediate parts of All I Ever Wanted read a bit like Kelly Clarkson karaoke: back are the Swedish writers and producers and their laser-guided arrangements, with dynamics that are particularly well suited to her voice, broad, nimble and gale-force strong." The Washington Post stated: "This is one of those rare pop albums that should resonate with the mainstream while also generating critical heat." AllMusic said that "This is a rare talent and while it's not perfect, largely due to those dreary Tedder tunes, much of All I Ever Wanted does justice to Clarkson's considerable skills." The Observer stated: "The original American Idol, Clarkson has thankfully shed the serious artist persona she pushed on 2007's self-penned My December. Guided by premier hitmakers like Ryan Tedder and Max Martin, her fourth LP is a purely production line affair." The Hartford Courant said that "The good songs are great, but the empty bluster on some of the others overshadows the spunky personality that made Clarkson a draw in the first place." Rolling Stone said that "Clarkson's sense of grievance, inflated to gargantuan size by her huge voice, can be wearying over 14 songs, particularly when the music sags." Slant Magazine stated: "Taken in isolation and out of the context of the album as a whole—say, on the radio—nearly all of these songs work well enough, despite the production choices that don't always play to Clarkson's strengths and which draw too much attention to themselves." Billboard said that "Clarkson's always had the best throaty yell in the business. But now she's becoming a masterful interpreter too." The Boston Globe said that: "On her fourth album, All I Ever Wanted, Clarkson the songwriter – she co-wrote six of 14 here – is learning to strike the age-old pop music balance that her hired hands perfected in the past. She's expressing emotional truth while crafting something that sounds good on the radio." Commercial Performance "All I Ever Wanted" debuted on the Billboard 200 at number one with sales of 255,000 copies. This marks the second time Kelly topped this particular chart after her debut set Thankful, which began with 297,000 in 2003. Internationally, the album debuted at number one on the Australia Aria Charts, selling 10,000 copies. In the United Kingdom, it sold 40,000 copies and an additional 15,000 copies in Canada. The album debuted at number six on the New Zealand RIANZ album chart, becoming Clarkson's highest debut there to date. As of June of 2012, the album has sold 197,817 copies in the United Kingdom. Album Personnel *Joakim Åhlund – Composer *Chris Asburn – Assistant *Damon Aranda – Composer, guitar, bass, vocals (background) *Glenn Ballard – Composer *Derek Bason – Musician *Howard Benson – Keyboards, producer, programming *Narvel Blackstock – Manager *Louis Biancaniello – Composer, musician, programming, recording *Michael Biancaniello – Guitar *Kim Bullard – Programming *Thomas Bukovac – Guitar *Paul Bushnell – Bass *Jared Newcomb (Chalice) – Assistant *Alexander Chiger – Composer *Kelly Clarkson – Composer, producer, vocals *Shanna Crooks – Composer *Vidal Davis – Composer *Paul Decarli – Digital Editing *Kara DioGuardi – Composer *Andrew Creighton Dodd – Composer *Craig Durrance- Recording *Aben Eubanks – Composer *Josh Freese – Drums *Eddie Fisher – Drums *Meghan Foley – Art Direction and design *Jimmy Frysinger – Assistant *Andre Harris – Composer *Graham Hope- Assistant *Pete Ganbarg – A&R *Chris Gehringer – Mastering *Serban Ghenea – Mixing *Erwin Gorostiza – Creative Directo *Aniela Gottwald – Assistant *Luke Gottwald – Bass, composer, drums, guitar, producer, programming, synths *Jason Halbert – Composer *John Hanes – Additional Pro Tools engineer *Frances Hathaway – Make-Up *Sam Holland -Engineer *Hatsukazu "Hatch" Inagaki – Additional engineer *John Jarvis - Piano *Alain Johannes – Additional guitar *Claude Kelly – Composer, vocal production *Koolkojak – Assistant *Joseff Larossi – Composer *Paul Leim – Drums *Karen Levitt – Styling *Campbell McAuley – Hair stylist *Max Martin – Composer, guitar, producer, synths *Joe Martino – Assistant *Trisha McClanahan – Manager *Jamie Muhoberac – Keyboards *Keri Noble – Composer *Greg Ogan – Additional Production *Katy Perry – Composer *Daniel Piscina – Assistant *Mike Plotnikoff – Recorder *Aimée Proal – Composer *Brian Ray – Guitar *Dave Rieley – Recording *Tim Roberts – Assistant *Andreas Romdhane – Composer *Mike Rooney – Assistant *Mike Ruiz – Photography *Gary Silver – Production coordination *Aaron Sterling -Drums *Tom Syrowski (Henson) – Assistant *Ryan Tedder – Background vocals, composer, musician, recording *Matt Thiessen – Composer *Mark Lee Townsend – Composer *Sam Watters – Composer, vocal production *Adam Watts – Composer *Greg Wells – Composer *Glenn Worf – Bass *Emily Wright – Engineer, vocal editing *Jonathan Yudkin – Strings *Phil X – Guitar *Harry Zelnick – Musician *Joe Zook – Recording Gallery Aiew109.jpg Aiew108.jpg Aiew107.jpg Aiew11.jpg Aiew106.jpg Aiew105.png Aiew104.jpg Aiew103.jpg Aiew102.png Aiew101.jpg Aie110.jpg Category:Albums